Iain Duncan Smith attacks graduates ‘too good’ to stack shelves

Iain Duncan Smith vowed not to back down over the government’s back-to-work scheme (Picture: BBC/PA)

Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has criticised university graduates who think they’re ‘too good’ to stack supermarket shelves and vowed not to back down after the government’s flagship back-to-work scheme was ruled legally flawed.

Mr Duncan Smith addressed the case of university graduate Cait Reilly, 24, from Birmingham, who challenged having to work for free at a local Poundland discount store or face losing jobless benefits.

‘You have to learn early that if you commit to something you stay by and do it,’ he told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.

Denying claims of ‘slave labour’, he said: ‘She was paid jobseeker’s allowance by the taxpayer to do this.

‘Most young people love this programme and I am sorry but there are a group of people out there who think they are too good for this kind of stuff.’

The work and pensions secretary pointed out that the former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy also started his career at the retailer stacking shelves.

Cait Reilly won a Court of Appeal ruling that the scheme was unlawful (Picture: Cathy Gordon/PA Wire)

‘The next time these smart people who say there’s something wrong with this go into their supermarket, ask themselves this simple question: when they can’t find the food on the shelves, who is more important: them, the geologist or the person who’s stacked the shelves,’ he said.

Mr Duncan Smith has already tabled emergency regulations to deal with a Court of Appeal ruling that the rules of his department’s work experience scheme were unclear.